Tortorella's Rangers Keep Getting Younger and Better

ENLARGE

Rangers defenseman Marc Staal chases a puck into the corner ahead of the Flyers' Jeff Carter in a game in Philadelphia on Dec. 18.
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By

Kevin Clark

Updated Jan. 11, 2011 7:57 p.m. ET

Every few days since the Rangers started running what could be described as the NHL's day-care center, coach John Tortorella gets peppered with a different version of the same question: Can you sleep at night, knowing how many inexperienced young players are now on the team?

"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Tortorella replied after one such question last week. "I couldn't be happier."

The Rangers, who were 25-15-3 heading into Tuesday's game with the Montreal Canadiens, are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, just six points off the pace set by the conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers, and youth is leading the way.

Six of the team's top seven points leaders are 26 or younger. Brandon Dubinsky, 24, leads the team with 36 points. Derek Stepan, 20, is second with 24.

Recently, the team has made a number of moves to make an already young team even younger. On Monday, the Blueshirts dealt Michal Rozsival, the 32-year-old defenseman, to Phoenix for forward Wojtek Wolski, 24.

In a conference call on Monday, General Manager Glen Sather said the move was made in large part because he likes his defense to be youthful. The oldest defenseman left on the roster is Steve Eminger, who might be ancient by Blueshirt standards. He's 27.

In the meantime, Chris Drury, the team's 34-year-old captain, has been relegated to the fourth line and penalty killing, and center Todd White, 35, was sent down to the American Hockey League.

"Whether we make mistakes or not, this is where it's at for this organization, and we're looking to bring more young guys in," Mr. Tortorella said.

Mr. McDonagh said the youth movement is driven by Mr. Tortorella's embrace of it. He tells his young players there's a long growing process and that he will tolerate at least a few mistakes.

Mr. Tortorella said watching the progress of Mr. McDonagh, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2007 draft, has been one of the more exciting recent developments, even if there are growing pains.

"It gives us a lot of confidence,'' Mr. McDonagh said of Mr. Tortorella's approach. "He's given me and a lot of other young guys an opportunity and he expects a lot out of us, and ...I think that's great."

On Tuesday the team's youth movement showed even more progress. One of the team's best young players, 23-year-old defenseman Marc Staal was named to his first All-Star team. Starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist, still only 28, will play in the game as well, while Mr. Stepan will compete in the rookie skills competition.

This week, Mr. Tortorella admitted that over the summer, as complaints from outsiders piled up about the Rangers' lack of a high-profile signing, he considered it the best summer the Blueshirts have had in recent memory "because our kids are still intact. You don't lose any of the kids. You don't lose a spot where you can develop a kid. This is, in my mind, the proper way to go about it.''

Mr. Stepan, the rookie sensation who scored a hat trick in his NHL debut in October, said that it is a unique experience to be a 20-year-old on such a young team. He's being counted on much more than he would in a more normal situation, he said.

"It's my rookie season and as the season goes on my role is becoming clearer and that's to chip in on offense a lot,'' Mr. Stepan said. "[Tortorella] has given me the opportunity to play the way I do. We're a younger team, and our veterans aren't exactly the oldest guys in the league. It's a good mesh."

There could be even more youth on the way, as 20-year-old Michael Del Zotto is still waiting for a promotion after a surprising demotion to the AHL last week, and top prospects such as forward Evgeny Grachev still are in the minors.

All of this, of course, makes Mr. Tortorella smile.

"There will be mistakes,'' he said. "There will be bumps, but I couldn't be happier.''

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